Kaathala Kaathala

Kaathala Kaathala (transl. Oh love, oh love) is a 1998 Indian Tamil-language comedy film directed by Singeetam Srinivasa Rao and produced by P. L. Thenappan. The film stars Kamal Haasan, Prabhu Deva, Soundarya and Rambha. The film released on 10 April 1998, to positive reviews and became a commercial success.[1] The film was later loosely remade in Hindi as Housefull.

Kaathala Kaathala
Theatrical release poster
Directed bySingeetam Srinivasa Rao
Produced byP. L. Thenappan
Screenplay byKamal Haasan
Story byCrazy Mohan
Starring
Music byKarthik Raja
CinematographyTirru
Edited byN. P. Satish
Production
company
Saraswathi Films
Distributed byRaaj Kamal Films International
Release date
  • 10 April 1998 (1998-04-10)
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Plot

Ramalingam and Sundaralingam are orphans who takes care of themselves and other orphaned children. Sundaralingam paints shop banners and calendars. Ramalingam is the man who finds way to make money, usually by means of fraud. He even acts as a handicap together with godman Ananda Vikadanantha and his partner. Sundari, an arts student falls for him. Her friend Janaki falls for Sundaralingam. Janaki's father, Paramasivam, objects to Janaki's wedding since Sundaralingam is poor, prompting Janaki and Sundaralingam to get married with the help of their friends.

Days go by but Paramasivam does not agree. This causes Sundari to ask Janaki to lie to Paramasivam that she gave birth to a son. Paramasivam upon receiving the letter, changes his mind and gets ready to set off to Chennai. Sundari had lied to her Chicago-based father, Balamurugan that Ramalingam is a rich man. Janaki, to easily convince her parents, lies that Sundaralingam became rich. The girls rent a big bungalow from a lady called Noorjahan, who mistakes Janaki and Ramalingam as a couple. They rent the house for three days.

Sundari's father was supposed to come on that day but misses his flight. Janaki's parents want to surprise her and they end up coming on that day. Ramalingam mistakes Janaki's father as Sundari's father. Unable to tell the truth because of Noorjahan, Janaki and Ramalingam let it be. They also without any choice, make Sundari as the servant maid and Sundaralingam as the cook. Sundari borrows a child from a beggar women, who stays in the house in the name of a milk woman.

The four of them strive hard to hide the truth from Janaki's parents. In between these, Varathachari, Paramasivam's friend who knows the reality comes home. After avoiding anything wrong, they encounter Janaki's maternal uncle, 'Security' Singaram. He is a very doubtful person who pressurize the youths, and starts suspecting them. Yet, he fails to convince his sister and brother-in-law.

When Balamurugan is on the way, Paramasivam steps in to help them, without knowing the truth at all. He concocts a more complicated story, where Ramalingam is his son, Janaki and Sundaralingam reprising their real relationship and worse, V. Anand to be his cousin. Anand is actually Ananda Vikadanantha who is absconding. When more of this happens, the elders smell something fishy and everything falls onto Ramalingam's head. To put an end to all these, Sundari reveals the complete truth to everyone. Singaram tells all that Anand is the fraud and once again, Ramalingam has to prove his innocence.

A chase ensues when V. Anand is held hostage by his ex-partner Junior Vikadanantha for money which he looted. Inspector Chokkalingam arrives in time to find Ananda Vikadanantha and Junior and Ramalingam is proven innocent. Paramasivam accepts Janaki and Sundaralingam, and Balamurugan is happy about Ramalingam and Sundari.

Cast

Production

Kaathala Kaathala was initially expected to be directed by K. S. Ravikumar who directed the successful Avvai Shanmughi with Kamal Haasan in the lead earlier, but he was later replaced by Singeetam Srinivasa Rao after he refused to sign the film until the Film Employees Federation of South India (FEFSI) strike of 1997 had stopped.[9] Actresses Meena and Simran's unavailability led to Rambha being cast in a lead role.[10] Nagma also opted against signing the film fearing that a potential clash may arise with actress Rambha, after the pair's alleged fall out on the sets of Janakiraman.[11] After Soundarya's death in 2004, Haasan paid tribute by revealing that "she came forward to do the movie, when the rest of the industry was unwilling to work with me."[12] Cho Ramaswamy, wanting to express solidarity with Haasan's stand during the strike, asked him for a role in the film and got it.[13]

Release

Kaathala Kaathala was released on 10 April 1998.[14] Namma Ooru Velan from Indolink gave the film a positive review, citing that "if one can put the inspirations behind, the movie is quite enjoyable" and that "the going gets very complicated and absolutely hilarious".[6]

In 2010, the producer of the film P. L. Thenappan threatened legal action against the makers of the Hindi film, Housefull for remaking scenes from the film without permission. Thenappan revealed he had dubbed the film into Hindi in the late 1990s as Mirchi Masala, but the version did not release.[15][16]

Soundtrack
Kaathala Kaathala
Soundtrack album by
Karthik Raja
Released1998
GenreFeature film soundtrack
LanguageTamil
LabelPyramid
Aditya Music
Sa Re Ga Ma
Hit Musics
ProducerKarthik Raja
External audio
Audio Jukebox(Tamil) on YouTube
Audio Jukebox (Telugu) on YouTube

The soundtrack was composed by Karthik Raja and lyrics written by Vaali.[17]

Track listing
No.TitleSinger(s)Length
1."Saravana Bhava"Kamal Haasan, Karthik Raja, Sripriya, Sujatha 
2."Madonna Paadala"Kamal Haasan, Kavita Paudwal 
3."Thakida Thathom Annachi"Ilaiyaraaja, Jack 
4."Kaasumela" (Digital Harmony solo by Premji)Kamal Haasan, Udit Narayan 
5."Madonna Paadala II"Hariharan, Bhavatharini 
6."Laila Laila" (Additional string arrangement by Mike Townend)Hariharan, Bhavatharini, Sripriya, Prasanna 
Telugu Track listing
No.TitleLyricsSinger(s)Length
1."Lucku Meeda Lucku Vachchi"VennelakantiKamal Haasan, Mano 
2."Laila Laila"VennelakantiMano, Bhavatharini 
3."Madona Model Nuvva"VennelakantiKamal Haasan, Bhavatharini 
4."Thakita Thakita Thom"VennelakantiMano 
5."Saravanabhava"VennelakantiKamal Haasan, Mano, Gopika Poornima, Sujatha 
6."Madona II"VennelakantiMano, Anuradha Sriram 

Legacy

The line "Jaanaki enakku wife aagittathaala, Sundari velakkaari aayittaappaa" (Ever since Janaki became my wife, Sundari became a housemaid) became popular, and has since entered Tamil vernacular as a term used by people to "tease friends caught impersonating".[2] The song "Kaasumela" inspired a film of the same name.[18]

References
  1. Kumar, Pradeep (3 April 2020). "Prabhudheva's best dance sequences: From 'Chikku Bukku' to 'Guleba'". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 9 April 2020. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  2. Vinoth Kumar, N (7 November 2019). "Celebrating 60 years of movie magic that's Kamal Haasan". The Federal. Archived from the original on 16 February 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  3. Krishnakumar, Ranjani (11 June 2019). "Remembering Mohan, a man to whom being crazy came easy". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 11 June 2019. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  4. கணேஷ், எஸ். (28 June 2017). "சாதனை புரிந்த தமிழ் படங்கள் – 301". Dinamalar. Archived from the original on 16 February 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  5. Ramanujam, Srinivasa; S, Srivatsan; Kumar, Pradeep; Sunder, Gautam (21 March 2020). "The best Tamil 'comfort films' to watch, while self-isolating". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 4 April 2020. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  6. "When Crazy Mohan made word-play humorous in Tamil movies!". Moviecrow. 11 June 2019. Archived from the original on 1 December 2020. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  7. "``வாழ்த்துகள் கிரேஸி, கமல். யூ போத் ஆர் வெரி கிரேஸி!" - #20YearsOfKaathalaKaathala". Ananda Vikatan (in Tamil). 16 April 2018. Archived from the original on 16 February 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  8. Krishna, Sandya. "The Strike of 1997". Indolink. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 17 July 2016.
  9. Sandya (18 October 1997). "December Vambugall". Indolink. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 17 July 2016.
  10. Sandya. "Tamil Movie News". Indolink. Archived from the original on 30 April 2016. Retrieved 17 July 2016.
  11. Kannan, Ramya (18 April 2004). "An intelligent top star". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 10 November 2012. Retrieved 17 July 2016.
  12. "Cho Ramaswamy requested Kamal Haasan". The Times of India. 26 May 2014. Archived from the original on 30 September 2020. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  13. Thomas, K. M. (27 July 1998). "Bollywood battles cable piracy as menace causes huge losses, producers fight back". India Today. Archived from the original on 22 December 2017. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
  14. Pillai, Sreedhar (11 May 2010). "Housefull, a remake of Kaathala Kaathala?". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 19 May 2018. Retrieved 17 July 2016.
  15. "Madras High Court stays Housefull". Sify. 28 July 2010. Archived from the original on 18 August 2016. Retrieved 17 July 2016.
  16. "Kaathala Kaathala". JioSaavn. Archived from the original on 17 April 2019. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  17. Darshan, Navein (7 July 2018). "'Kasu Mela Kasu' movie review: A wannabe comedy filled with objectionable ideas". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 29 October 2019. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
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